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Thursday, 21 June 2012

Last month Bradford Theatres launched their annual search for local music talent to open Bingley Music Live’s main stage on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 September. Over 50 bands entered the competition from around the Yorkshire district. Fifteen bands have gone through to the heats which will be held on Tuesday 26, Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 June at St George’s Hall Bistro Bar.

Six bands will be chosen from the heats to play in the final on St George’s Hall main stage with the two overall winners playing at Bingley Music Live Festival in September in front of a crowd of over 15000 people.

Friday, 15 June 2012

About a month ago, I chanced upon an a post on facebook about a secret charity gig featuring The Coopers. The only information was that it was in Bradford and the date. Neither being a problem for me, I contacted the email address and asked if I could attend the gig. I was accepted and told that I would find out the exact location a couple of days before the gig.

Incredibly, when the location arrived, it turned out to be literally round the corner from my house! I was rather surprised because the address looked like a private residence. Doors were at 7.30 and I arrived to attend the gig to find that indeed it was to take place in the organisers apartment. The gigs was in aid of Christians Against Poverty, after paying the door fee I went upstairs to the living room which had been turned into a venue with bar included, drinks were available for a donation, this was such a cool place, the apartment had some beautiful beams and columns and plenty of space for the 60 people that have been invited to the gig, which was a really good number.

First to take to the stage was a singer/songwriter called Paul Thomas Saunders, he has an incredible voice and some nice harmonies are provided by the backing singer Kate. His songs are quite melancholy which probably are the most suited to his vocals.

In the interval we are all given a gift from the Coopers, everyone in the room has a parcel which a label on saying "wait".
The Coopers set starts off with some strange music from a record player, a sort of relaxation LP with birds singing, as they move into their first song Wolves. This is followed by the single from last year "Ripples", I love this song it seems to sum up the Coopers in a nutshell, it oozes happiness and thoughts of summer and good times.

The next song was Autumn, a new song for me, really liked it and was pleased to see that it's on the new EP.
After this track we are allowed to open our parcels, which are not all the same, mine contains a party popper, a tea light and a tub of bubbles. We are going to get to use the first of our gifts in the next song "What you wanted" when we hear a count of 4 we can explode our party poppers. The nervous anticipation almost makes me not be aware of the song! The crowd is ready though and on the count of four there is a simultaneous explosion of poppers.

After this they close the curtains and Chelsea Cooper lights her tea light and uses her flame to light someone in the audiences and we all start to light each others which is a lovely way to all feel part of something special. The song Hello is a perfect soundtrack to the lovely atmosphere created.
Apart from the audience participation, the Coopers are a joy to watch, the use of bells, keyboards, percussion, drums, bass and acoustic guitar is wonderful and all delivered with a smile, which is totally infectious as I'm only seeing happy faces here.

Next up is the single, I played this on the show a few weeks ago, its called Summers Child and is an excellent tune - no prompting necessary here for everyone to get blowing bubbles - can you ever grow out of blowing bubbles?
Those with no bubbles in their parcel have not been forgotton and wine bottles filled with different levels of water are handed out to bubbleless people to accompany the song Bread. With the Coopers alternately playing and directing the makeshift orchestra of bottles a really cool sound is created.

A truly brilliant night, which I feel really privileged to have been a part of. Hats off to the organisers!The Coopers Website

Saturday, 2 June 2012

Not a review of such, just an account of where I've been (mainly so I can remember :))

Starting
off the month on 1st May, first Tuesday in every month is the open mic night in
association with Yorkshire Gig Guide/Yorkshire Music Collective that normally
takes place at factory street studios. Due to unforeseen circumstances it
couldn’t be held at the studios and Live Lounge Utopia kindly stepped in to
host this evening. Open mic slots are taken by Bradford band Kascarade, Liz
Narey and Whiter Than. The first of the featured acts tonight were Station
Lane, young band from Birkenshaw who do a really good set, I think this band
have great potential. After this there is another open mic act called Josh
Doyle and then the headline act tonight which is Ryan Spendlove. He’s just come
back from an American tour and it was great to see him in Bradford. What a
fabulous set!

The Well (SIRAStudios photo)

Saturday 5th
May was Live at Leeds – I started off the day in the sunshine watching The
Artists in the ELFM awning stage just outside the ticket exchange. Walked down
to Milo to see British Daylight and was amazed that the venue was already
crowded at 12 o’clock. Good set by this young band. Next I walked up to Nation
of Shopkeepers to The Mexanines who were brilliant as always. It was heaving in
there and when I came out there was a queue past Escobar to get in! I carried on
up to the Well to see Unions, who I really enjoyed, and Barefoot Beware who
were great. Then I went to Leeds Met to see Redwire, it was packed in there too
and a large number of Redwire fans were in there making it a really lively gig.
Then I went back to The Well to see Wot Gorilla. Good atmosphere in The Well,
busy but you can still get in and out no bother so I decide to chuck my
previously made timetable and stay there, catching some of Post War Glamour
Girls and Hawkeye. Then I went back up to Leeds Met to see We are Augustines
who were brilliant. I also caught a large part of Lianna La Havas’s set and was
very impressed with her. And after that I decided to go home.

10th
of May I went to the fortnightly open mic at Glyde House in Bradford. Featured
act was Simon Kelly, I do like his storytelling songs and other people playing
were Andrew Wood, Liz Narey and Mat White.

Thurday 11th
May I called in at Empire to catch Do Miss America, Bradford band who have
featured on the show and whose album I love, first time I’ve caught them live
and wasn’t disappointed. After that I
headed up to Carpe Diem for the Mañana Nights gig and saw Sworn to Oath and
Broken.

Thursday
24th I went to Bad Brains night at Carpe Diem, and saw Leeds band The
Swindells, been a while since I joined in their signature tune “Yorkshire”! and
also Bradford punks The Drastics, who gave a customary good energetic
performance.

On Saturday
I headed into Leeds for the first “Feel The Benefit” gig. This is a monthly
event which raises money for different charities each month. It’s held at Melbourne
St. Studios which is a cool event space. There was a comedian (very funny) and
also a magician (amazing) as well as music. I saw Andrei Nosov’s blues band
play a really good set. Unfortunately I had to leave before the other 2 bands played.

On Sunday I
went to an open mic afternoon at Kala Sangham in Bradford. I saw that Martin
Christie, Poet and Loops artist was hosting the event and although we have
known each other “virtually” for many years we’ve never actually met before.

The event was organized by Bradford Artfarmers and the space was full of visual
arts. There were poets and novelists reading too. Really enjoyable afternoon –
spent mostly in the company of the lovely Yorkshire Gig Guide – and I
thoroughly enjoyed Martin Christies songs and loops!

Tuesday 29th
was the open mic night at Glyde House in Bradford, it was a fantastic night –
such talented performers all night, I really can’t remember all the names so I
won’t list because I enjoyed everyone who played very much. Though I will mention Paul Carey who was on the show a few weeks ago and Nadeem Leigh whose voice blew us all away. There is always a
featured artist and this week it was Whiter Than, three-piece band with guitar,
violin and bass. Excellent set.

Last day of
the month, Thursday. I popped into the
New Conservatory and caught Rob Galloway doing a few tracks, I loved him as the
frontman of Yalla Yallas with his thrilling energetic performances but I really
enjoyed his raw stripped back set tonight.

Later I went to a gig that had been
cancelled, so headed off to Milo instead where I managed to see The Shrinks,
rock three piece, who always have a lot of support. Quite a while since I’ve
seen them and thoroughly enjoyed the set.

I was so impressed with Utopia the week before that I looked forward to Redwire single launch all week. 3 great Local Bands on the line-up.

The venue was already busy by 9pm when I arrived, this evening had a special 14+ license and its great to see so many young people in as well, there really needs to be more places for the young music fans to go - they are after all the ones who are most passionate about music.

The first act is The Sailmakers, I first saw them a few years ago as a 3 piece acoustic act and was impressed by the lead singers voice and the lyrical content of the songs.

They are now a full 5 piece folk-rock band, the sound is much more powerful yet strangely enough it seems to enhance the music and lyrics that attracted me to them in the first place. They have added a female vocalist and with the bassist also doing backing vocals there are some great harmonies around the strong lead vocals. I expect to be seeing much more of this band, they would fit into any line-up with their melodic well thought out songs. Very strong set which is getting some appreciative applause from the crowd.

Next up is Sharp Darts, quite a while since I've seen them live and the reason is soon apparent, they have new material and a really funky vibe going on - they've obviously been hidden away writing and practising.

They're now a 6 piece band, the addition of keyboards is bringing some nice new sounds in too, but I think its the funky bass and guitar sounds that really hook me tonight. Excellent set from start to finish, I especially liked the last song "In My Head" and was really please to be given a CD with this on after the gig.

Tonight however is about launching Redwire's new single, Live Today Die Tomorrow.

I've always loved a Redwire party - the place is heaving and Redwire's fans are bouncing. This band have a real connection with their followers, new songs, old songs, it doesn't matter everyone know the words and sings along at one with the band - the audience is truly an extra band member with this band.

I like the addition of an extra guitarist to the line-up, gives the songs much more weight and the front man needs to be free to do what he does best - sing and engage the crowd. Great entertainment, Redwire know what their fans want and give it to them.

With a big headline announcement due next week, this year’s
Bingley Music Live line up is building up to be the best ever. Getting in on the
red hot action we’re delighted to announce the 20 local bands selected to
appear on The Musician’s Centre Stage at this year’s festival.

Sharing the bill with chart topping acts that have achieved
international critical acclaim such as Nero, DJ Fresh,
The Pigeon Detectives, Hard-Fi andThe Charlatans our successful bands will enjoy this once in a lifetime
opportunity over the weekend of 31st August to September 2nd
in Myrtle Park.

So book your tickets, come along and give a big local cheer
to:

·Ballyhoo Eventide

·Foxes Faux

·Ti Amo

·The Coopers

·The Simon Pollard Band

·Tom Savage & The Hash Mafia

·Den Miller

·Long Trick

·Control is Dead

·Bearfoot Beware

·Return to Ajustrel

·Small Words

·Talking To Strangers

·Down The Machine

·Deadwall

·Peculiar Disco Moves

·Dan Audio

·Eskimo Fandango

·Lunar Coup

·all too human

The bands will play on the new third stage hosted in
association with The Musician’s Centre; providing a
dedicated forum for home grown acts across the district. Covering a broad spectrum of musical
genres these new acts prove that the local scene is flourishing in diversity.
Each of the chosen acts complied with the strict entry conditions, having at
least 1 band member with a BD postcode, an existing online presence, plus
previous live gig experience.

Marie Harris of The Musician’s Centre commented: "We’re really overwhelmed with the response
from local bands wanting to play Bingley Music Live and really impressed by
the quality that Bradford has to offer, our team had a really tough job
boiling down over 150 applicants to just 20 but we feel the bands playing
represent a huge variety and a very high quality of what the local area has to
offer."

The
Musician’s Centre Stage has been given a ‘Woodstock Festival’ theme to create a
laidback and relaxed, family-friendly place for bands and supporters to hang
out. Expect to see hippies handing out flowers inviting you to
the stage, live artwork, a photo booth to snapshot your happy-hippy moments and
the guys from the Rag and Bone Collective will be helping contribute to
the communal art display.

Over the past
six years Bingley Music Live has firmly established itself on the festival
circuit; impressing audiences and performers alike with its intimate, friendly
atmosphere and professional organisation. The chance to really get up close and
personal to your favourite bands is one of the event’s stand-out features,
meaning that festival goers can get to the heart of the action.

The other bands confirmed for the Main and Raise the
Roof stages this year are: Maverick Sabre, Delilah, Kids in Glass Houses, Katzenjammer, The Idiot B*stard Band,
StooShe, Yes
Sir Boss, Miles & Erica, SkinnyLister, The Chevin, Citizens!Sadie and the Hotheads, Ellen and the Escapades,King Charles and The Lancashire
Hot Pots.

Friday, 1 June 2012

This year Yorkshire
Music Collective are extremely pleased to be helping out at BOMfest.

Amazingly BOMfest is in
its eighth year this summer, its started off as a humble affair in
2005, next to the Barnsley main pit, and against all odds it has
become Yorkshire's most cutting edge supporter of original unsigned
artists. It also prides itself on being one of the best value for
money events in the UK.

As in the last couple
of years BOMfest will take place in Worsborough Country Park,
Barnsley and has now evolved into an all weekend camping, eight stage
spectacular, without losing any of its original spirit and ethos.

This years artists have
been selected from over 1000 applicants and many hours of checking
out live performances at “The South Sea” in Sheffield, and with
the limited number of available slots on offer to performers at this
years event, the artists chosen to play can rest assured that in this
hard knock, labour of love industry, BOMfest has recognised their
dedication and hard work.

Here are some of the
artists playing this year:

MAIN STAGE

The headliners are 3
Daft Monkeys from Cornwall. They have become one of the most popular
touring bands on the UK festival scene. Their quirky, original and
unusual approach to music, and their exhilarating and energetic live
performances have garnered them a loyal live following. They have
played at Glastonbury festival and headlined festivals in Holland,
Belgium, and Germany. Their passion, intensity and sheer joy of life
mixed with their infectious dancing rhythms will leave you
breathless, enthralled and exhilarated. You’ll find the desire to
dance irresistible!

Just before them are
Barnsley's The Danse Society, one of the godfathers of Goth/Darkwave
from the 80's will be playing as a special homecoming gig. Reformed
due to pressure from Facebook fans the band are back after a 25 year
break and at the end of last year released their fourth album "Change
of Skin" Their live show promises to be as exciting and as
powerful as ever and they are already lined up for some major
festival appearances, their inaugural concert to be at the famous
Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig on 26 May 2012. They have played
alongside

Sisters of Mercy, The
Fall and The Cult and have supported tours with bands such as Killing
Joke, Bauhaus and The Cure.

Special mention also to
PaperPlane from Todmorden who are the BOMfest best young band of the
year. A three piece outfit hailing from Halifax/Todmorden,they are an
alternative rock band with all sorts of influences in the bands sound
which is dramatically arranged and passionately delivered. They
impressed BOMfest organisers so much when they played in Sheffield
that they are the organisation's tip for the top in 2012 and a must
watch for those of you who enjoy the creative expression of a young
bunch of lads.

Other acts on the main
stage are BROOMBUSTERS, from Birmingham, NIGHTVISION from Lincoln,
STRAIGHT RAZOR ANGELS from Barnsley, MUNICH from Brighton, IMOKO SET
from Barnsley, MENTAL BLOCK from Wakefield, GARAJE JACK from Madrid,
and SECTION 60 from Sheffield.

BIGSOUND MARQUEE

The headliners are The
headliners are Manchester hip hop/ska/Soul band The Lostrites, a real
party on legs. This outfit are good friends of BOMfest and headlined
the BIGsound stage last year and have been regulars since 2009 when
they stormed the party with their tongue in cheek upbeat tunes which
underneath carry a strong lyrical message. Guaranteed to end the
night on a big one. Other acts on this stage are James Warner Prophecies, Smiling Ivy, Seventh Son, Jam Abraham, 10ft Wizard, Down The Machine, Glavins, Familiar Looking Strangers, Happy Daggers, Franko and the Dreadnaught and Stellavision.

URBAN MARQUEE

Headliner MC Major
Ranks has been controlling the microphone from the early 80's as a
highly rated yoot man MC on the Reggae Sound System scene in both
Nottingham and London.

This included being
Resident with his Sound "Sir Clifton Hi fi" at the now
famous 4 Aces Club,aka The Labyrinth on Dalston Lane,while it was
still a 7 night a week Reggae Blues Party.

Heavily influenced by
the Jamaican artists of that era he moved with times and started
MC'n to Jungle Techno/DnB/Jungle and has worked with the biggest
names in the business including Grooverider,Nicky
Blackmarket,Slipmatt,Ellis Dee to name just a few.

EXTREME MARQUEE

Headliners are thrash
metal band Redmist Destruction from Barnsley. Formed in 2009 after
four good friends synchronically ended their current band projects,
RedMist Destruction, “RMD”, got together to create their first
love; thrash metal. With the aim to bring something fresh to a genre
saturated with carbon cut outs, RMD breathe new life and energy into
it the way it was meant to be. The party carrys on this stage with DJ Mistress Darkside.

OTHER STAGES

This year IMP stage will be focusting on Hip Hop, Breaks and Jungle, with DJs and MCs joining them from across the country.

The Monkey radio dance arena will start the day nice & funky then will build the music up all day with organ house , funky bass ,electro , jakin finishing with trance classics. The Monkey Arena will be transformed into a wonderland visual adventures as soon as it gets dark.

The Cirque Du Manc Cabaret marquee will host a whole day of weird and wonderful performances.

Festival Chief Dave
Hancock says "every artist deserves the support and encouragement
which I am sure the BOMfest revellers will provide to make BOMfest
2012 a day to remember for Performers, volunteers and attendees."